Golden Knights: Trade Pickups

Once again, my recent trade with The Real DFG brought in some new cards for one of my team collections, this time the Vegas Golden Knights. They are the newest team I've started collecting and I'm always on the lookout for some new base and lower end cards to boost my collection of the NHL's 31st team.

Up first and my favorite of this group is a 2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Retro parallel of Robin Lehner. While I'm still not sure why they acquired him, Lehner seems like a good fit in Vegas and was fun to watch in last year's playoffs. I just wish the photo had his updated Golden Knights themed mask. The one he's wearing is from Chicago.

The next on is from the same set and features Reilly Smith. He's pictured in the Knights road white jersey, which has always looked really nice if you ask me. The white gloves are awesome too. One of these days I need to get myself a replica Adidas jersey to go with my grey one. Although the new gold third and red reverse retro might be higher on my list.

Up next is a regular O-Pee-Chee card of Max Pacioretty. This one is card #426 in the set. I have to say this set design is growing on me. I wasn't a huge fan of it in the mock ups UD posted, but now that I've had some time to look at them they're actually not too bad.

Lastly we have a Shea Theodore base card from 2019-20 Upper Deck. I love the photo on this one as you've got a nice action shot of the VGK defenseman with no one else directly around him. I tend to like these shots more than the ones crowded with opposing players.

So that's four nice new additions to my growing VGK collection. While I don't have much high end stuff, cards like these are great because they showcase the players I currently enjoy watching. Plus, collecting a team adds variety I don't get from player collections.

Red Wings: Trade Pickups

In addition to several of my other collecting projects, my recent trade with The Real DFG also brought home some new cards for my Red Wings collection. Trades like this are the only way I've been getting base cards for my team collections lately as I still have not been to a card show all year. Hopefully I'll be able to get to a few next year.

Up first is a 2020-21 O-Pee-Chee Retro of Givani Smith. I have to admit, I do not know a ton about this guy as I haven't followed the Wings as closely as I used to. He played 21 games with the Wings last season picking up two goals and one assist.

The other O-Pee-Chee Retro parallel was of defenseman Patrik Nemeth. He was also new to the Red Wings for 2019-20 after spending time with Colorado and Dallas. He played in 64 games for the Wings last year picking up one goal and eight assists.

Up next is a regular O-Pee-Chee card of center Robby Fabbri, who also joined the wings during the 2019-20 season after coming over in a trade from the Blues. Every time I see that #14 I keep thinking of Brendan Shanahan who wore it most of the time while I was growing up as young Wings fan.

Last but not least we have another Fabbri, this time from 2019-20 Upper Deck Series Two. This one has a nice close up shot of him wearing the classic Red Wings red jersey.

So that's four cool new cards for my Wings collection and the first of the new season for my hometown team. One of these days I need to get myself organized enough to get an accurate count of my Red Wings cards. I've been collecting this team for almost 25 years now and have absolutely no idea how many cards of them I actually have.

Predators: Trade Pickups

From the trade that keeps on giving, I was able to grab a few new Predators cards from The Real DFG along with the awesome Arvidsson, Hasek and Stefan stuff I already posted. It has been a while since I picked up any new base Preds cards due to not attending the local card show, so it was cool to get some newer stuff from the latest O-Pee-Chee release.

Up first is card #422, a Retro parallel of Ryan Johansen. At first I wasn't a huge fan of these, but the more I see them the more I am starting to like them. The simplicity really helps.

Then there were three base cards starting with #266 featuring Filip Forsberg. This new OPC design is better than some of the last few, but nothing too spectacular.

 

Up next was card #85 featuring Mikael Granlund. 

 

Last but not least is card #446 featuring 2020 Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi.

Now I just need to work on completing the Predators team set for O-Pee-Chee. There are 17 total including the team checklist card, so I've definitely got a ways to go. Not sure how long that will take though as I really don't grab singles like this unless they are part of a trade or come from the dime boxes at card shows.

Dominik Hasek: Trade Pickups

Isn't it great when you can grab cards for a bunch of different PC projects at once? The trade I made with The Real DFG continues with some great new additions to my Dominik Hasek collection. While I don't search for these as much as my other collections, he was my favorite player as a kid so it is always nice to add new cards of his.

Up first is my favorite new Hasek card from the 2006-07 Flair Showcase Hot Numbers set. This one is card #HN30 and shows Hasek during his time with the Senators. It is still weird seeing him in that jersey. The funny part is they have his team labelled as the Red Wings in the upper right corner. Why not just have it match the team he's pictured with?

 

Sticking with cards with fire on them, I also received a 2007-08 Hot Prospects Hot Commodities card. This one is card #110 in the set and serial numbered 449/999. While this one is better in that it shows him with the Wings, I have to give the Hot Numbers the edge design wise. The flames are just a little too fiery in this case, almost gimmicky.

Up next we'll go all the way back to 1998-99 with this MVP Special Forces insert card. I remember getting a box of this stuff as a kid and hit one of these cards, I think it was Brett Hull, and really liking the set. I'm glad to have this Hasek in my collection now.

Now we're back to that odd time of his with the Senators. This one from 2014-15 Artifacts is card #104 in the set and is serial numbered 900/999. This is one of the cleaner looking Artifacts sets and the background coloring works very well with this Senators look.

Last but not least we have a 2016-17 Artifacts Orange parallel. This one is card #151 and is serial numbered 16/55. This thing looks amazing in person with the orange foil. Gotta love the old school Sabres look too. Always like adding cards of his with those uniforms.

That's it for the new Hasek additions. Thanks again to DFG for the trade! These are going into my Hasek collection and staying there for sure. Now I just need to work on cataloging my Hasek collection so I can get an accurate total of everything I have.

Viktor Arvidsson: Trade Pickups

In addition to the Patrik Stefan auto I posted recently, the trade I made with The Real DFG brought me some other great cards for my other projects. Today's post is all about my newest player collection: Viktor Arvidsson. I was able to grab two new cards in the trade.

Up first is one of Arvidsson's rookie cards, #166 from 2015-16 Champs. These sets always had a cool look to them and stock they were printed on made them even better. Apparently there are gold and silver parallels of this set for me to chase down.

The other one was 20-21 MVP 20th Anniversary 3rd Star #56. This one is done up to look like the old MVP design from 2000-01. I love these MVP tribute cards because they make use of the far superior MVP logo from back in those days. I'm still not sure why they ever changed it. The sharp corners and squared structure just look better in my opinion.

 

Now that I have this 3rd star version of the anniversary card, it just leaves me needing the 2nd and 1st star versions. While these are neat on their own, I was never a fan of UD's departure from the script parallels for 2000-01 MVP. It is interesting that they added the facsimile signatures to this anniversary edition even though they weren't on the original.

Patrik Stefan: UD Legends Epic Signatures

Ok, this is probably one of the more ironic post titles I've had on here. Patrik Stefan and legend don't really belong in the same sentence, unless you are talking about his legendary empty net gaffe against the Oilers back in the day. Regardless, I'm glad to have another cool auto for one of my PC players even if it is Patrik Stefan. 

This card was part of a recent trade I made with The Real DFG and comes from the 2000-01 Upper Deck Legends set, specifically the Epic Signatures insert set. Luckily for me, Stefan was included in this set along side names like Gretzky, Yzerman, Howe and many others. 

I really like the overall look of this set. The color/texture combination isn't too obnoxious and there is plenty of nice white space for the on-card signature. The on-card is the best part about these. The only thing I would've added is the team logo. Maybe that's just because I love that old Thrashers logo and it would look great on there somewhere.

Going through the checklist of that set, Stefan would be considered an outlier by a lot. I guess the hype was still there for Upper Deck to include him in this set. Here's a look at how the entire checklist compares statistically to Stefan's career.

UD Legends Epic Signatures NHL Regular Season Statistics
Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-
Bobby Clarke	1144	358	852	1210	507
Bernie Geoffrion	883	393	429	822	39
Brett Hull	1269	741	650	1391	23
Bobby Hull	1063	610	560	1170	249
Bobby Orr	657	270	645	915	582
Bryan Trottier	1279	524	901	1425	449
Cam Neely	726	395	299	694	83
Dale Hawerchuk	1188	518	891	1409	-98
Denis Potvin	1060	310	742	1052	456
Frank Mahovlich	1181	533	570	1103	266
Gordie Howe	1767	801	1049	1850	160
Guy Lafleur	1126	560	793	1353	446
Gilbert Perreault	1191	512	814	1326	41
John Bucyk	1540	556	813	1369	-7
Jean Beliveau	1125	507	712	1219	117
Jari Kurri	1251	601	797	1398	304
John Leclair	967	406	413	819	204
Joe Mullen	1062	502	561	1063	167
Joe Nieuwendyk	1257	564	562	1126	155
Joe Thornton	1636	420	1089	1509	186
Keith Tkachuk	1201	538	527	1065	33
Lanny McDonald	1111	500	506	1006	39
Larry Robinson	1384	208	750	958	722
Mike Bossy	752	573	553	1126	380
Marcel Dionne	1348	731	1040	1771	27
Mike Gartner	1432	708	627	1335	68
Michel Goulet	1089	548	605	1153	99
Mario Lemieux	915	690	1033	1723	114
Mark Messier	1756	694	1193	1887	211
Pavel Bure	702	437	342	779	42
Peter Bondra	1081	503	389	892	74
Phil Esposito	1282	717	873	1590	252
Pat LaFontaine	865	468	545	1013	-6
Patrik Stefan	455	64	124	188	-36
Pat Verbeek	1424	522	540	1062	-46
Sergei Fedorov	1248	483	696	1179	261
Stan Mikita	1396	541	926	1467	329
Sergei Samsonov	888	235	336	571	11
Steve Yzerman	1514	692	1063	1755	184
Ted Lindsay	1068	379	472	851	9
Wayne Gretzky	1487	894	1963	2857	520

This next table shows the minimum, average and maximum values for each category.

UD Legends Epic Signatures NHL Regular Season Statistics
Player	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-
Min	455	64	124	188	-98
Avg	1165	517	713	1231	186
Max	1767	894	1963	2857	722

The numbers don't lie, Stefan does not belong with the rest of the names here. He has the minimum games played, goals, assists and points. The only category he wasn't the worst in was +/- and there he only missed it by 10, coming in second worst behind Pat Verbeek.

Aside from Stefan, the only younger players in this set would've been Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov. I guess you could say if they were predicting future "Legends" with these three selections, they were only completely right on one of them.

Thanks again DFG for the trade! This is only the beginning of what he sent over. I will have a few more posts for the rest of it. Hopefully I can get to them here soon.

Viktor Arvidsson: The Cup Gold Spectrum

If there is one thing I don't have much of in my collection, it is stuff from The Cup. I'm pretty sure the only two cards I even have are the two Howard RPA's that I bought this summer. While they aren't the first thing I look for, since they're usually pretty expensive, I am always open to grabbing some for my PC if the price is right.

One of my recent eBay pickups would be one of these situations. Somehow I was able to grab this awesome Viktor Arvidsson The Cup card for just $0.99 plus shipping. It is card #47 from 2017-18 The Cup, specifically the Gold Spectrum version, serial numbered 3/12.

What a gorgeous piece of cardboard. You really have to have one of these in your hand to appreciate it. The scan looks good, but when the light hits the actual foil it looks amazing.

This is now my lowest numbered Arvidsson card besting the MVP Super Script I picked up recently. Not sure why they are numbered to 12 though. I would love to hear the reasoning for that. Its probably something obvious, but I don't follow The Cup closely so who knows.

Jimmy Howard: Artifacts Gold

One of the things I love about player collecting is going after the always elusive complete rainbows. With my Jimmy Howard collection I've got a good start on several of them going back almost ten years now. One of my favorites is the Artifacts set from 2010-11.

Of all the artifacts designs from this past decade, the one that started it is probably my favorite. It has a simplified overall look and the old fashioned document looking background is a very nice touch. Another interesting thing with this design is the lack of an Upper Deck logo on the front of the card, which is actually really nice to see.

Onto the reason for today's post. It has been a long time since I added to this rainbow, so when I saw a copy of the gold version on eBay recently I had to have it. Luckily I was able to grab this one for less than $10 with shipping. This one is serial numbered 08/35.

As far as Howard rainbows go, this one is middle of the road in terms of quantity as there are only six total versions to chase: Base, Emerald (/50), Gold (/35), Silver (/25), Rainbow (/10), Black (/5). At least there isn't a true 1/1 in this case so that helps a bit.

Similar to my recent OPC Platinum post, I thought it would be neat to put together a visual checklist grid to keep track of these and to see them all at the same time.

As you can see, I've got everything but the Rainbow and Black versions. Knowing that this set is a decade old now worries me that these are going to be hard to find for a good price. I know there is a Rainbow on COMC right now, but I'd like the price to come down a bit.

Masks: Edge Ice The Wall

Mask cards are something I'm always on the lookout for when the price is right. I used to be able to find quite a few of them at card shows, but since I haven't been to one all year, I've resorted to looking for deals on eBay and what not. 

Today's post is about a mask themed set that has yet to make an appearance on here: 1995-96 Edge Ice The Wall. I've know of this set for years now, but never attempted to buy it. It is a minor league set from the 90's and it definitely feels like it looking at the design.

There are 12 cards in the set including both IHL and AHL masks from the mid 90's. Most of the goalies included spent significant amounts of time at the NHL level.

As far as the design, they are very similar to the original Pinnacle Mask cards from 1992-93. There is an actual photo of the mask set on a plain black background with the set and company name at the bottom. The one thing that separates these Edge Ice cards is the die-cut shape at the top. Each card is cut specifically to follow the outline of each mask.

Up first and my favorite of the set is card #TW3 featuring Rick Knickle of the Detroit Vipers. I actually went to a bunch of Vipers game as a kid, so this one was cool to see. Not sure if I ever saw Knickle play though. If I did that makes this one even cooler.

My next favorite is purely based on the mask artwork. Card #TW10 features Mike Dunham of the Albany River Rats. I always thought this design was cool as a kid and remember seeing it on several of his Devils cards I have floating around in my collection.

The rest are just in the order that I scanned them. Next is card #TW4 featuring the mask of Troy Gamble from the Houston Aeros. I love the look of that logo on the top of the mask.

Card #TW6 features this great mask from Wendell Young of the Chicago Wolves. The yellow really helps the wolf design stand out on the top. The claw marks on the chin are cool too.

Then we have card #TW2 featuring the mask of Manny Fernandez from the Kalamazoo K-Wings. I really like the combination of the darker green with the gold and black.

Card #TW9 features Les Kutnar's mask from the Hershey Bears. I love the symmetry of this design. The white cage and surrounding area really look good with the light blue.

Up next we have the mask of Jim "The Net Detective" Carey from the Portland Pirates on card #TW7. I always thought he had some neat masks. The playing cards are a nice touch on the chin. The brick wall design looks pretty cool too.

Next is card #TW8 featuring the mask of Dwayne Roloson from the Saint John Flames. The standout feature of this mask is definitely the yellow cage. That's something you don't see very often. Otherwise it is a nice simple look with the black and the flames logos.

Card #TW5 features the mask of Pokey Reddick of the Las Vegas Thunder. This one looks pretty cool with the Thunder logo on either side and the lightning effect.

Eric Fichaud's mask from Worcester IceCats is shown on card #TW11. This mask design is actually from his junior days with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL.

Up next is card #TW1 featuring the mask of Ray Leblanc from the Chicago Wolves. This one has a real Cujo vibe to it. Definitely one of the better looking masks in this set.

 

 

Last but not least we have card #TW12 featuring former Red Wings goalie Kevin Hodson. This mask is from his time with the Adirondack Red Wings and I'm pretty sure he wore this exact mask in some NHL games. I always liked the look of the black accents.

Of the 12 goalies included in this set, they all eventually played at least one game in the NHL. Below is a summary of their career regular season statistics. They are listed in the same order as the cards on the checklist for this set.

Goalies of EDGE Ice The Wall Set: NHL Regular Season Statistics
Goalie	GP	W	L	T	SO	GAA	SV%
Ray Leblanc	1	1	0	0	0	1.00	0.955
Manny Fernandez	325	143	123	35	15	2.50	0.912
Rick Knickle	14	7	6	0	0	3.74	0.879
Troy Gamble	72	22	29	9	1	3.61	0.875
Pokey Reddick	132	46	58	16	0	3.71	0.873
Wendell Young	187	59	86	12	2	3.94	0.876
Jim Carey	172	76	65	16	16	2.58	0.898
Dwayne Roloson	606	227	257	82	29	2.72	0.908
Les Kuntar	6	2	2	0	0	3.18	0.877
Mike Dunham	394	141	178	44	19	2.74	0.908
Eric Fichaud	95	22	47	10	2	3.14	0.897
Kevin Hodson	71	17	18	10	4	2.76	0.893

Some of these names are definitely more familiar to me than others. Hodson was with the Red Wings when I was just getting into hockey here in Detroit so he is probably the most familiar to me. He would be followed by Dwayne Roloson and Mike Dunham.

The rest of the names I'm aware of mostly from the older 90's cards in my collection. The only name that I wasn't really familiar with at all was Les Kuntar. What's funny about that is he's not even the one with the least games played. That honor goes to Ray Leblanc.

Statistically, the top three here would be Roloson, Dunham and Fernandez. They are the only three of the group with 300+ games played and 100+ wins. Not a bad group.

As far as individual awards, Fernandez and Duham both won the Jennings trophy as backups to Tim Thomas and Martin Brodeur respectively. Carey won the Vezina back in 1996. Reddick (1990) and Hodson (1998) were the only ones to ever win the Stanley Cup.

So that's another cool mask themed insert set I can check off my list. While these are my number one priority, its always nice to be able to add them to my collection. One of these days I'll get them all organized and posted onto a single page of my collection website.

Viktor Arvidsson: Young Guns

When I started my Viktor Arvidsson collection, one of the cards I knew I wanted to have relatively soon was his Upper Deck Young Guns rookie. It seems like most collectors would agree that it and maybe the SPA Future Watch are the two key rookie cards to have.

Considering this is only my third new Arvidsson post on here since I started this, I would say this is soon enough for me to have a copy. The best part is I was able to find a great deal on eBay from a local seller. This one only ended up costing me $2 including shipping.

Here is card #222 in the 2015-16 version of the flagship Upper Deck set.

I actually really like the look of this Young Guns set. While the design at the bottom lacks any bright colors, it looks great and doesn't distract from the rest of the card above it.

Now I just need to work on finding the Silver Foil, UD Exclusives, High Gloss, Canvas and Acetate versions to complete the Young Guns rainbow. Some of those will definitely be hard to find. So far I've only see copies of the Canvas version for sale.

Viktor Arvidsson: OPC Platinum Sunset

In my recent Cardboard Creations post about my ideas for OPC Platinum designs, you may have noticed that all the cards featured the same player. That would be Viktor Arvidsson. I actually decided to start collecting his stuff around the same time I started that custom set, so he was the perfect choice as the player to be featured.

I also mentioned in that post that I got some inspiration from the new Sunset parallels from Upper Deck. Well, it just so happens that Arvidsson was the first one I actually bought for myself. The name bar on the bottom of my customs was actually taken right from the scan of this card. That ended up being easier than recreating it from scratch.

Here is card #36 from 2019-20 O-Pee-Chee Platinum.

While this thing looks nice in the scan above, it is even better in person. Definitely one of my favorites of all the OPC Platinum cards I have so far. Now I just need to start working on the rest of the Arvidsson rainbow for this set. I definitely have quite a bit to track down.

Viktor Arvidsson: MVP Super Script

Now that I have another player to collect with Viktor Arvidsson, I wanted to see what kind of good deals I could find on eBay to get things started. I'm not exactly going after his high-end stuff right now, so I'm focusing on cards that I like and can get relatively inexpensively.

It just so happens that I was able to find a 2020-21 MVP Super Script, just like the Jimmy Howard from my last post. This one is card #29 in the set and is serial numbered 09/25. The best part is this one only cost me $5 including shipping. Now I need the black version.

I have to say this is one of my favorite MVP designs of the last few years. The only thing I would change about this set is the Upper Deck logo in the upper right corner. I wish they would've made it the same foil as the signature and the other areas. The original few MVP sets did this and they look much better for it.

The other thing about these Super Scripts is my scanner does not like them. You can barely see the rainbow foil here. These things look amazing when you hold them up to the light. Definitely one of my favorite types of cards to just pull out of my PC box to look at.

Jimmy Howard: 2020-21 MVP Super Scripts

As a player collector I look forward to the release of MVP every year. While it is considered a low-end product, my interest in it is driven by the parallels. The script parallels have been a part of MVP since the beginning and I always like adding them to my collection, especially the Super Scripts. Howard has been in this set most years so I have plenty to go after. 

In addition to the regular script parallels including Silver, Gold and Super, Upper Deck recently added a Black version numbered out of 5. These are even harder to track down than the traditional Super Scripts, which are numbered out of 25.

I know Howard has these Black Super Scripts in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, so I at least have two of them track down. Definitely some of the lower numbered cards of his the last few seasons. Luckily, I was able to grab the latest version recently from eBay.

This is card #188 in the set and serial numbered 2/5. Other than my two 1/1's this is the lowest serial numbered card in my Howard collection now. I ended up paying about $20 for this, which is a little more than some similar cards have sold for, but I was comfortable with it and that's all that matters. Who knows when another one would show up for sale.

Once I had the Black version I figured why not try to complete the full MVP rainbow so I went on the lookout for the regular Super Script /25. Luckily I was able to find one a week or so later on eBay. This time I only paid just over $10 including shipping.

Now I just need the Gold Script, Silver Script and Base versions. I guess this would be the backwards way of completing a rainbow. At least the others ones are not serial numbered and I should be able to grab them relatively cheap eventually. Hopefully.

New Player Collection: Viktor Arvidsson

How many player collections is too many? I'm not sure. I have three at the moment and it does not feel overwhelming at all. In reality I've been focusing mostly on one of them, but they're all there and always give me something to search for on eBay and what not.

The only real limitation for any of them is the time period in which the players were active. Hasek has me covered for most of the fun 90's sets that I've always enjoyed collecting. Patrik Stefan has a good number of cards between 1999 and 2006 for me to chase. Jimmy Howard has regularly had cards from 2005 onward so I'm pretty well covered until now.

With Howard's future uncertain and Hasek being included in newer sets only occasionally, I'm missing someone that will allow me to chase some of the cool new cards being released right now. I'm talking stuff like the newer OPC Platinum parallels.

I know I already have team collections going for Detroit, Vegas and Nashville and I could always just grab cards for those as they come along, but there is just something more fun about player collecting for me. It seems to make collecting more enjoyable. 

That said, I've decided to add Viktor Arvidsson to my group of player collections. He is still my favorite current Predator and he's always been fun to watch. While he isn't in the realm of McDavid and Matthews as far as cards go, he seems to be included in most of the sets I've been interested in lately. If anything, his stuff appears to be pretty affordable too.

This works nicely with my already started Nashville Predators collection. I will just pull the few Arvy's I already have from there to get me started. After a quick search through my Preds binder, I was able to find six. My favorite is probably the 18-19 Upper Deck base.

A quick check of the Trading Card Database shows that Arvidsson has just shy of 500 total cards so far. That's quite a few less than my other PC players. Howard is around 1500, Hasek is around 5500 and Stefan is around 700 total. I know I will never have all the cards for any specific player, but at least I'll know how many are out there to chase.

I've also been checking eBay and COMC lately to see where I can get started. There are some really cool Arvidsson cards available. Hopefully he continues to improve with Nashville and will be featured in plenty of new card releases in the coming seasons.

Jimmy Howard: Ultra Premier Pad Men

If there is one thing I don't have a lot of in my Jimmy Howard collection, that would be die-cuts. I can only think of a few off the top of my head and would have to go back through everything to know for sure. I've always liked die-cuts, especially some of the crazy ones from the 90s', so I try to add them to my collection here and there.

In this case, Howard was featured in the Premier Pad Men set from 2014-15 Fleer Ultra. These feature the goalies obviously and have a really cool die-cut of the words PAD MEN on the left hand side. Here is a look at card #PP-20 from this great set.

Its hard to see in the scan, but this one is printed on a rainbow foil board that looks so much better in person. These are the types of cards that I love to pull out of the box and look at in the light. Looking through my cards is one of my favorite parts of collecting.

The best part about this one is that it only cost me $1 on eBay, and the shipping was free. That's a great deal for a PC card from a cool set like this one.